Brazil is moving ahead with the creation of an international security center in Manaus that will bring together Amazon nations in policing the rainforest, sharing intelligence and chasing criminals, a senior Brazilian police officer said. A building has been rented and equipment is being purchased for the center that will have police representatives from the other seven countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). The center will fight drug trafficking and the smuggling of timber, fish and exotic animals, as well as deforestation and other environmental crimes, Humberto Freire, head of the Federal Police's Environment and Amazon department, said in an interview on Friday.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil is moving ahead with the creation of an international security center in Manaus that will bring together Amazon nations in policing the rainforest, sharing intelligence and chasing criminals, a senior Brazilian police officer said.

A building has been rented and equipment is being purchased for the center that will have police representatives from the other seven countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO).

The center will fight drug trafficking and the smuggling of timber, fish and exotic animals, as well as deforestation and other environmental crimes, Humberto Freire, head of the Federal Police’s Environment and Amazon department, said in an interview on Friday. Illegal gold mining on protected reservations of Indigenous peoples like the Yanomami, will also be a priority, he said.